Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief James Collins suffered a fatal heart attack while assisting at the scene of an accident. He was returning to Hanover from the state capitol when he encountered the accident on a snow-covered road when he happened across the accident. Because of the snowy conditions he had the occupants stand on the other side of the guard rail. As he set out flares to warn oncoming traffic another car slid into the original car. Chief Collins did not return from setting out the flares and his body was found a short time later. Chief Collins had served with the Hanover Police Department for 22 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NH-FFDFA7AF- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew James. Claim this record.
This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.
Tributes
22 years. You could have gone home.
Chief of Police Collins gave the Hanover Police Department 22 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Hanover community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Collins.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police James H. Collins is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NH, 14 of 59 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 23.7% of this state's fallen. That is 19.7 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James H. Collins's cause is highlighted.
How James H. Collins Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. James H. Collins is highlighted in Jan.